Critical race theory seeks to analyze, understand, and ultimately change contemporary social structures which maintain racial and social injustice. The theory argues that the very foundations of our society are racist, which manifests in many contemporary social systems (Bartel, 2025). Critical race theory builds off of critical theory, which is why a large emphasis of this theory is change. A large aspect of critical theory is the idea that humans created the world around us through social construction, and that we as humans have the power to change the world around us (Bartel, 2025). 

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The initial understanding of the theory is that social structures are racially unjust for Black people, however there are various understandings of critical race theory, and the current understanding is that social structures reinforce white supremacy, where white people are superior to all non-white people. While people may face differential racialization, the pattern remains the same: white is superior to all others (Bartel, 2025). This is an example of the concept of "othering." An important aspect of this is creating a binary understanding, in this case of race, as if you have a binary you begin to "other." If a group is able to pose themselves as the primary or premier group, then all others must be less than that. By creating binary categories and establishing themselves as the focal group, they are able to view all other groups as inferior (Bartel, 2025). While this may occur in many different ways and is not necessarily exclusive to an oppressive paradigm, this is a strong example of how "othering" has been utilized to construct and maintain white supremacy. This also relates to the concept of hegemony, specifically white hegemony, which is the domination and value of white people, culture, and all things related to whiteness over all people and things non-white (Bartel, 2025). ​​

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Critical race theory poses that many social structures and institutions, which have a long history of racial oppression, continue this racial oppression today. Under the lens of religion, various religious organizations and the systemic structures that they helped build also contribute to widespread racial oppression. Religion and race are deeply intertwined, which can be seen in the development of the category of "white" and the construction of the concept of race (Gerbner, 2018). Before the category of "white" existed, being Christian was the only requirement for many civil rights such as voting. In order to deny freed Christian slaves the same rights as European descendants, there needed to be a distinction of racial categories in order to maintain inequality. This effectually created the concept of race, the racial category of "white," and consequentially, white supremacy (Gerbner, 2018). This shows how interconnected religion and race are, however this is just one example. Many excerpts from the bible, including The Curse of Ham, were utilized to justify slavery and declare inequality between Black and white people for centuries (Bartel, 2025). Catholic legal documents such as the Doctrine of Discovery claimed racial superiority of European Christians and acted as legal grounds and justification for atrocities such as colonization, indoctrination, and slavery (United Nations, 2012). Christian reasoning and arguments were also utilized to establish white supremacy and dehumanize all non-white people.

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It is for these reasons that critical race theory is extremely valuable and necessary in order to understand the world around us. Through the lens of sociology and religion, it is vital that we have a comprehensive understanding of history and how it has shaped all systemic structures that exist today.